Category Archives: History

What Are Gatzolles, Trinxets, Ganivets, Porquers And Talós?

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Gatzolles, Trinxets, Ganivets, Porquers, Etxurats and Talós are the names for some of the traditional Mallorcan peasant pocket knives. You will not find a single Pagès on the island who would not carry one of those traditional knives on him, or an assortment of them, depending on the task in hand.

Traditional country folks in Mallorca always have a job to do, be that hunting, fishing, vine grafting, sheep or goat herding, harvesting, what have you. For such tasks and similar jobs, you need at times a sharp knife and you better have one on you, just in case. The typical Mallorcan pocket knife comes either with a wooden handle, often in Ullastre, the Wild Olive tree, or in goat horn finish. Prices range from 9 € to 45 €, depending on size, type and finish. I know of three reputable knife makers on the island, Ordinas in Llucmajor, Joan Campins in Consell (see photo top), and Miralles in Muro (see photo bottom), all of them producing the trusted pocket knives in stainless steel, beautifully hand-crafted.

The photo (top) was taken in Campos, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 6th, 2012. The time was 13:00:51. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr.com and artesaniademenorca.

Thank you very much, and

muchas gracias.

The Baronia de Banyalbufar

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During the Catalan conquest of 1229 the pueblo of Banyalbufar was granted to two noblemen, Gilabert de Cruïlles and Ramon Sa Clusa. A feudal Barony was established, the Baronia de Banyalbufar. Up until the 15th century, the Lord of the manor ran a practically absolutist government, the Barony of Banyalbufar. The baron maintained the civil and criminal jurisdiction over the entire population, stretching to and, at that time, including Esporles. Nowadays, the Baronia de Banyalbufar (see photo) is offering guest accommodation in nine rooms, affording splendid sea views. Rates for half-board are priced at around 96 € per room.

The Baronial tower dates from the 17th century even though I can’t help but detect a striking resemblance to other Mallorcan torres which are said to date back to the Arab period.

The photos were taken in Banyalbufar, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 18th, 2012. The time was 16:45:40 and 16:47:35, respectively.

Air Attacks Over Palma in 1937

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75 years ago this week, there were two days of severe air attacks over Palma, coming from the Republican resistance to the military putsch of the Falangist movement. Plenty of damage was caused, including the loss of civilian life, particularly in the boroughs of Santa Catalina and Porta de Sant Antoni, where nowadays Carrer de Sant Miquel and Carrer dels Olms would meet. Palma’s leading newspaper at that time, La Almudaina, reported extensively about the Canallesca hazaña de los aviadores rojos (Despicable deed of the red flying machines), when in reality the attacks were aimed at the commandos of the war planes of Benito Mussolini‘s Aviazione Legionara (Italian Air Brigade, financed by none other than a certain Juan March Ordinas) and the German Legion Condor who had come to the help of the Caudillo‘s (General Franco’s) attempt to overthrow the government of the Second Spanish Republic. The foreign air forces had shortly before attacked Durango and Gernika in the Basque province in Northern Spain. Both, the Italian as well as the German air legions had a major presence here in Mallorca during the duration of the Guerra Civil. The Italian Air Brigade, for instance, bombarded Barcelona with air planes stationed here in Mallorca in March 1938.

Later in 1937, Palma suffered two more bombardments on October 7th, and December 7th, respectively.

Both photos were borrowed from the Internet, the top one courtesy of diariodemallorca.es, and the bottom one, courtesy of nothemingwaysspain.blogspot.com.es. Thank you very much, and

muchas gracias.

The Museo de Mallorca

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One of the most interesting museums in Mallorca is the Museo de Mallorca. Sadly, this museum is closed for a total overhaul and has been closed for over three years now. What a shame.

But, as luck would have it, somebody had a brilliant idea. A large number of emblematic exhibits from the Museo de Mallorca were moved to a temporary exhibition at the Centre Cultural Sa Nostra, in Carrer Concepció in Palma, and will be on display there until the Museo de Mallorca reopens.

The presentation at Sa Nostra‘s Cultural Centre comes under the heading Essència i Presència del Museu de Mallorca (Essence and Presence of the Museum of Mallorca). The exhibition is composed of three hundred and fifty works, from a selection of periods, cultures and styles, and can be admired from Monday to Saturday, 10h00 to 21h00.

The cultural centre is located in a building known as Can Castelló, dating from the 18th century. The building is worth a visit in its own right for its architecture, its typical eighteenth century courtyard with arches and Ionic columns of red marble, a remarkable staircase and some beautiful ceiling murals from the nineteenth century. Admission is free.

The photo (top) was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 17th, 2009. The time was 13:08:31. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of obrasocialsanostra.com.

Moltes de gràcies.

A Thousand Roads to Sóller

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I reckon that one does not really know Mallorca in all its beauty until one has been to Sóller and Port de Sóller. There are a thousand ways (well, not quite) of getting to that part of the island, a task that not all that long ago proved quite a daunting and challenging one.

Those of us who have children or even grandchildren, have probably already enjoyed the experience of boarding the Palma to Sóller train, leaving from Palma’s Plaça d’Espanya seven times every day and coming back again, five times (see photo centre). Now would seem like a good time to embark on this journey, as the Tren de Sóller has just completed its first centennial. This trip on the old train and its wooden carriages is like a magic journey to the past. There are no longer any excuses for not boarding the train, even though charges have recently gone up, again, to 19.50 €  for adults (14 € for Balearic residents) for the round trip. Up to 1,000,000 tourists take the one hour train ride to Sóller every year, but that should not deter you from enjoying the landscape on the way, especially now when most of the tourists have not arrived on the island yet for this year’s holiday and when temperatures are not hot and scorching.

Of course, you could always take the car to Sóller via the tunnel. The Sóllerics more than welcomed the new Sóller tunnel when it was inaugurated fifteen years ago. This new connection cut their travelling time to Palma down from some 60 minutes to less than twenty; not a mean feat when you are going about your daily business instead of, like most of us, going about our leisurely ways. These days, taking the car to Sóller through the tunnel, which starts not far from the splendid Alfàbia gardens, would cost you a fare of 4.80 € (one way). The Sóllerics are not so enthusiastic at the moment at all as they were promised to have their fares subsidised by the Consell de Mallorca, with tolls being paid in full upfront and subsidies being reimbursed at a later stage. However, these subsidies have not been paid for the last 15 months or so. Thus, the tunnel was recently blocked for hours on end in protest against the high charges and broken promises. Be warned that the Sóller tunnel has one of the worst test results on safety standards, according to the British AA, with 39 points out of 100, even though no accidents have ever occurred.

If you want to see Mallorca and one of its most beautiful landscapes, I would like to suggest that you take the road from Palma to Sóller by car, and up into the mountains along that almost alpine road full of serpentine bends at a length of some 14 km. When I went with some friends up to the Coll de Sóller and down again last week (see photo top), there were plenty of cyclists tackling the challenge. Of course, they wouldn’t be allowed through the tunnel, and the mountain climb is a welcome physical endurance test for them as it is.

You could also get to Sóller from Port de Sóller by tram. Fares have gone up to the ridiculous amount of 5 € (one way) for the ten minute ride, but still worthwhile at least once in a blue moon (see photo bottom).

And you might want to sail from Palma to Port de Sóller, a bit like Junípero Serra in 1749 when he set off from Port de Sóller to Mexico to set up numerous monasteries in Baja California as well as in what is now California, USA.

The photos were taken in Sóller, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 14th, 2012. The time was 14:15:14, 17:08:36 and 18:29:37, respectively.

The Malvasia Grape

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The Malvasia grape variety has historically only grown in the Mediterranean region, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but is now tended to in many other wine-making regions of the world as well, such as Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Corsica, the Iberian Peninsula, California, Arizona, Australia and Brazil. In the past, Malvasia wine was predominantly consumed as a sweet dessert wine similar to Malmsey wine from Madeira. The white Malvasia grape is more common but, a red Malvasia grape also exists.

In the old days, wine generally only had about 7 per cent of alcohol. It was then quite difficult to sufficiently cool the wine and as a consequence, much of the wine turned sour and could not be stored for any length of time. In contrast, the Malvasia wine even at that time had an alcohol content of about 14 per cent, making it considerably easier to store. Its low degree of acidity was regarded as delicious. Soon, the sweet Malvasia dessert wine was very popular at the European courts.

Here in Mallorca, the Malvasia vine was only rediscovered in the 1980s. The Malvasia grape only grows in the Tramuntana area, in Estellencs, Banyalbufar, Deià and Pollença, with Banyalbufar being the main producer. Of all the wine grown in this municipality, Malvasia is the only grape variety there. During the 16th century, a total of 25,000 litres of Malvasia dessert wine were produced by the Cooperativa de Banyalbufar alone, with most of that astounding amount being sent to the Court of Aragón. You might want to go to Banyalbufar one day; all vines are cultivated on terraces there, first built by the Moors some 1,000 years ago.

The consumption of dessert wines has decreased enormously in recent years. Mallorcan Malvasia grapes are now primarily used to produce white table wines. There is a young white wine from 2010 with a deliciously fruity aroma, selling at around 15 € and a slightly older, oak-barrel stored white wine with a heavier, round body selling for around 25 €. The first would be drunk to accompany a meal, whereas the latter would stand up as a wine drunk on its own, full of character. Mallorcan Malvasia dessert wine sells in half-litre bottles at around 12 €.

The photos were taken in Banyalbufar, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 18th, 2012. The time was 16:33:40 and 18:25:38, respectively.

The Festa de Firó in Sóller

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For the last few days, the town of Sóller has been celebrating its annual Fires i Festes. Today is the last day of festivities and the most important of all celebrations, the Festa de Firó. The Firó celebration always happens on the Monday after the second weekend in May, i. e. today. The Firó goes back to a date in history, when on May 11th, 1561, some 2,000 Moorish intruders arrived in the Port de Sóller from Algeria, with nothing but unfriendly motives and aggressive plans. Luckily, the then Viceroy in Ibiza had sent a warning to the citizens of Sóller who could prepare themselves for a possible attack and organize their defense. For the last 120 years, the town of Sóller has been celebrating the legendary battle and its favorable outcome with an annual reenactment of the historic skirmish of Moros i Cristians (Moors and Christians).

In 1561, the Sarraïns (Saracen pirates) landed on the Platja d’en Repic , pillaging and looting whatever got in their way. They soon had the upper hand, marauding houses and capturing the parish church. The pirates’ Wazir (leader) did not take long in declaring victory in the Sóller Plaça, triumphing over the local farmers. The Sollerics and their Valentes Dones (brave women), however, regrouped under the helm of Capitán Angelats, counter-attacked and finally managed to overpower the intruders. I expect it will be the same today, and everyone will be happy ever after, until next year.

The photo was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of flickr.com and @potti (José Juan ‘Potti’ Luna).

Moltes gràcies.

Water Music

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One could argue that Mallorca lived a moment of advancement and prosperity during the period of Moorish jurisdiction. During that time (902-1229), progress was made by refining agricultural methods, by introducing plants hitherto unknown on the island, by developing new forms of management of water resources, by governance of land areas and communities in newly determined juridical districts, by reshaping seafaring routes through accomplished maps and atlases and by starting new trade relations with North Africa and the European continent.

A lot of these achievements had to do with water. Perhaps water was more scarce and precious where the Berbers came from and thus more knowledge and wisdom was coming with them in the way they dealt with water resources and water management here on this island. The settlers only ever founded Alquerias (settlements, villages) where they had found a water source. Once found, they took great care to channel the precious liquid and to store it in ample Aljubs (cisterns). From here, they would conduct the water to where it was needed through canals or watercourses, or other forms of irrigation.

Alfabia is a good place to study the Moorish ways of water management. The estate goes back to an Islamic settlement near the Font d’Alfabia, a water source in the Puig d’Alfabia mountain, from where it was channeled through watercourses to storage reservoirs near the residential quarters, and from there through canals and ducts to the fields and terraces of plantation areas and gardens.

The sound of water is ever-present in Alfabia like an orchestrated composition of water music. Sit back and relax and you can enjoy the peace and solitude of nature, accompanied by the sound of trickling water, interspersed with chirping bird sounds and the resonance of wind in the trees. Bliss.

Admission fees have recently gone up to 6.50 € in Alfabia. Oh well.

The photo was taken near Bunyola, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 11th, 2012. The time was 15:15:31.

The Cap Salines Lighthouse

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There are 14 lighthouses in Mallorca, plus three on the island of Sa Dragonera and two on the archipelago of Cabrera. The Far del Cap Salines lighthouse is Mallorca’s most southerly situated lighthouse. It was first put into operation in 1863. An acetylene hydrocarbon lighting system was introduced in 1917 and converted to electricity in 1957. In that year, the height of the tower was also raised by 6.5 metres to increase the range of its signal.

In the 1980s, this lighthouse was equipped with photovoltaic panels and became the first in Spain to be solar-powered.

The photo (top) was taken near Ses Salines, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 9th, 2012. The time was 16:26:30. The photos (centre and bottom) were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of farsdebalears.org.

Muchas gracias.

Good-Bye V. O. S. E.

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When we came to Mallorca to settle we, by choice, had no TV set. We could not watch any movies in Palma’s cinemas either because they did not offer any non-dubbed movies at that time. We were desperate to watch a decent non-blockbuster foreign film either from Britain, France, Germany, Japan or wherever, in its original version but, tough luck. No such thing here on the island. A friend of ours even thought of going into the movie theatre business himself in order to be able to watch the films he would have liked to have seen in their original version, and by extension, us, his friends. The nearest place where we could watch such films, mostly of the independent genre, was Barcelona, a long way for just a night at the opera, sorry, movie house.

Then, some time in the late Eighties, Cines Renoir started up in Palma at the s’Escorxador complex. We were delighted. Some of the better foreign films we had heard about, now came to Palma as well in their original version (V.O.S.E.) with Spanish subtitles, sometimes even before they were shown in Britain. Over the years we have been able to watch films from India, China, Japan, Korea, Britain, USA, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Egypt, Palestina, Argentina, Mexico; you name it, we saw it.

Sadly, today will be the last day of such pleasures here on the island. Cines Renoir Palma is closing down for good. It seems as though the enterprise has proved to be a loss-maker for the last seven or eight years but, even worse, the movie industry insists on a digitalisation of the movie theatres’ film presentation. Such equipment is said to cost in the neighbourhood of 100,000 Euros per screen. Cines Renoir Palma inaugurated a fourth Sala only three years ago; thus, the total investment would have been near enough 400,000 Euros. If I had that sort of money lying around and spare, I might even chip in. I am sad to see Renoir go. We shall have to buy a TV set now; only joking, we bought one when the children were old enough.

The cinema business in Spain – or anywhere else for that matter – is not in a very good shape these days. I suppose computers, the Internet, pirating, streaming and other contemporary digital contraptions are to be blamed. In Palma alone, two large Multiscreen cinema complexes closed down in the last few years, first Multicines Chaplin and more recently, Multicines Metropolitan. After Renoir‘s closing, only two independent cinema theatres will remain in Palma, Salas Augusta and Multicines Rivoli. The other remaining Multiscreen complexes are internationally owned and under the tight influence of the Hollywood industry moguls. No chance for any V.O.S.Es. I am afraid, whatever Multicines Porti Pi might say. I will believe their promises when I see them.

The photos (top two) were taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 7th, 2012. The time was 15:38:15 and 17:50:19, respectively. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of diariodemallorca.es.

Muchas gracias.